A review by ruchi_chanachur
The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins
4.0
~3.5 stars, rounded up because peer pressure. Also warning, a dog dies.
I finally finished it! After two weeks. This book is really slow. I wouldn’t recommend reading when you’re in a reading slump, are falling into a reading slump, or are coming out of a reading slump.
Starting with the writing. Some people attribute- and they may be correct in doing so- that the writing is one of the reasons that this book is so slow. It is Victorian writing, of which examples I will not be providing, that is too much work. The writing is very heavy and prose-y, and I cannot blame people for not preferring this writing style. That being said- I loved it. Unnecessarily long sentences in longer paragraphs still, sometimes venturing into the rambly or redundant, clock full of details, and filled with a great helping of commas- there are other forms of punctuation, but it’s mostly commas- are my shit. Which you can probably tell by reading up to this point.
The writing may, in fact, be my favourite part of this book. Though the book was slow, with a slow plot, the writing managed to hold my attention and keep me reading, without feeling the almost stagnant process in this book. But enough about the writing, onto the pacing.
As mentioned many times, the pacing is slow, and the book is consistent in that regard, except near the end when everything is a bit rushed.
The plot is rather slow, and really, I can’t call this book a thriller. It’s not a thrilling story. And while it is a mystery, most of the book is Victorian melodrama (it does connect to the mystery but still). While this is not so bad- I am the type of person who finds drama entertaining, and Victorian drama is infinitely better than contemporary drama- I do wish that more of the book was actively about the mystery.
Something that happens a lot in this book is that after important discoveries it goes back the melodrama. The important events are relatively spread out, which I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, this made the book slow and almost tedious to read. On the other hand, it makes the mystery more plausible. I mean, it’s unlikely that all the important events relating to a marriage scheme will take place in a week or a few identifiable days.
The mystery was a decent one, and I felt some intrigue over it. Anne’s (the woman in white, her name is revealed early on) big secret was a bit anti-climatic. The ending was a bit disappointing in that it didn’t quite hold up to what was promised. I must admit that while Anne’s secret wasn’t really shocking to me (especially with my modern sensibilities) it didn’t go in the direction that I thought it would, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Onto the characters. This will be short. They are:
- Walter Hartright. He was okay. I wanted him to succeed, but I questioned him and some of his actions.
-Marian Halcombe. I would have liked her had she not declared that she hated other women (except Laura). As of now, my feelings are very confused. She has a decent personality, and she is one of the characters most prevalent in the book.
-Laura Farlie. While I didn’t dislike her, I didn’t like her. I don’t understand why Walter and Marian care so much about her, outside of being pretty. Despite being the central focus I can’t seem to understand her personality. I find her boring, and quite frankly, useless. Also after (unspecified event), she essentially becomes a child. Why?
-Sir Pervical. Think that’s how you spell it. Hate him. He’s the type of person to beat dogs.
-Count Fosco and Madame Fosco. Hate them too. No more details.
-Anne Catherick. Despite the book being titled after her, she isn’t really present, so I don’t have any feelings toward her except pity.
Now there is some problematic stuff, like sexism (or when Miss Halcombe is described as being ugly for having a darker complexion). However, this was written in 1859, so I can overlook it, and it isn’t so bad.
TLDR: Loved the writing, plot was slow, characters were confusing.
I finally finished it! After two weeks. This book is really slow. I wouldn’t recommend reading when you’re in a reading slump, are falling into a reading slump, or are coming out of a reading slump.
Starting with the writing. Some people attribute- and they may be correct in doing so- that the writing is one of the reasons that this book is so slow. It is Victorian writing, of which examples I will not be providing, that is too much work. The writing is very heavy and prose-y, and I cannot blame people for not preferring this writing style. That being said- I loved it. Unnecessarily long sentences in longer paragraphs still, sometimes venturing into the rambly or redundant, clock full of details, and filled with a great helping of commas- there are other forms of punctuation, but it’s mostly commas- are my shit. Which you can probably tell by reading up to this point.
The writing may, in fact, be my favourite part of this book. Though the book was slow, with a slow plot, the writing managed to hold my attention and keep me reading, without feeling the almost stagnant process in this book. But enough about the writing, onto the pacing.
As mentioned many times, the pacing is slow, and the book is consistent in that regard, except near the end when everything is a bit rushed.
The plot is rather slow, and really, I can’t call this book a thriller. It’s not a thrilling story. And while it is a mystery, most of the book is Victorian melodrama (it does connect to the mystery but still). While this is not so bad- I am the type of person who finds drama entertaining, and Victorian drama is infinitely better than contemporary drama- I do wish that more of the book was actively about the mystery.
Something that happens a lot in this book is that after important discoveries it goes back the melodrama. The important events are relatively spread out, which I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, this made the book slow and almost tedious to read. On the other hand, it makes the mystery more plausible. I mean, it’s unlikely that all the important events relating to a marriage scheme will take place in a week or a few identifiable days.
The mystery was a decent one, and I felt some intrigue over it. Anne’s (the woman in white, her name is revealed early on) big secret was a bit anti-climatic. The ending was a bit disappointing in that it didn’t quite hold up to what was promised. I must admit that while Anne’s secret wasn’t really shocking to me (especially with my modern sensibilities) it didn’t go in the direction that I thought it would, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Onto the characters. This will be short. They are:
- Walter Hartright. He was okay. I wanted him to succeed, but I questioned him and some of his actions.
-Marian Halcombe. I would have liked her had she not declared that she hated other women (except Laura). As of now, my feelings are very confused. She has a decent personality, and she is one of the characters most prevalent in the book.
-Laura Farlie. While I didn’t dislike her, I didn’t like her. I don’t understand why Walter and Marian care so much about her, outside of being pretty. Despite being the central focus I can’t seem to understand her personality. I find her boring, and quite frankly, useless. Also after (unspecified event), she essentially becomes a child. Why?
-Sir Pervical. Think that’s how you spell it. Hate him. He’s the type of person to beat dogs.
-Count Fosco and Madame Fosco. Hate them too. No more details.
-Anne Catherick. Despite the book being titled after her, she isn’t really present, so I don’t have any feelings toward her except pity.
Now there is some problematic stuff, like sexism (or when Miss Halcombe is described as being ugly for having a darker complexion). However, this was written in 1859, so I can overlook it, and it isn’t so bad.
TLDR: Loved the writing, plot was slow, characters were confusing.